Rockaway, Queens
Rockaway | |
---|---|
The Rockaway Boardwalk, a visitor attraction on the peninsula | |
Motto(s): | |
![]() Location within New York City | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
City | ![]() |
County/Borough | ![]() |
Community District | Queens 14[1] |
Named for | Corruption of original Lenape language name |
Population | |
• Estimate (2020) | 124,185 |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
ZIP Codes | |
Area codes | 718, 347, 929, and 917 |
The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the city, Rockaway became a popular summer retreat in the 1830s. It has since become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods. In the 2010s, it became one of the city's most quickly gentrifying areas.
The peninsula is divided into nine neighborhoods or sections, with Riis Park in between two of such sections. From east to west, they are:
- Far Rockaway, from the Nassau County line to Beach 32nd Street;
- Bayswater, located to the northeast of Far Rockaway, along the southeastern shore of Jamaica Bay
- Edgemere, from Beach 32nd Street to Beach 56th Street;
- Arverne, from Beach 56th Street to Beach 77th Street;
- Rockaway Beach, from 77th Street to Beach 97th Street;
- Rockaway Park, from Beach 98th Street to Beach 126th Street;
- Belle Harbor, from Beach 126th Street to Beach 141st Street;
- Neponsit, Beach 141st Street to Beach 149th Street;
- Riis Park, Beach 149th Street to Beach 169th Street;
- Breezy Point, from Beach 169th to the western tip. This includes the smaller areas of Roxbury and Rockaway Point, as well as *Fort Tilden[2]
The peninsula is part of Queens Community District 14[1] and is patrolled by the 100th and 101st Precincts of the New York City Police Department.[3][4] As of 2020, the peninsula's total population is estimated to be 124,185.[5] All ZIP Codes in Rockaway begin with the three digits 116 and the central post office is in Far Rockaway.
Etymology
The name "Rockaway" may have meant "place of sands" in the Munsee language of the Native American Lenape who occupied this area at the time of European contact in the early 17th century. Other spellings include Requarkie, Rechouwakie, Rechaweygh, Rechquaakie and Reckowacky, transliterated in Dutch and English by early colonists.[note 1] The indigenous inhabitants of the Rockaways were the Canarsie Native Americans, a band of Lenape, whose name was associated with the geography. The name Reckowacky was used to distinguish the Rockaway village from other Mohegan villages; "Reckowacky" means "lonely place", or "place of waters bright". (This area was mistakenly documented as occupied by a band of Mohawk people in a 1934 source, but this Iroquoian-speaking tribe primarily occupied the Mohawk River valley in central New York, north and west of the Hudson River and Long Island.)[6]
Other interpretations of the peninsula's indigenous name have also been proposed. One possible interpretation is "Reckonwacky", which translates to "the place of our own people", while another is "Reckanawahaha", which translates to "the place of laughing waters". Other phrases, such as "lekau" (sand) "lechauwaak" (fork or branch), also referred to the area's geography.[7]
History
Early history
In September 1609, Henry Hudson and his crew were the first Europeans recorded as seeing the area of the Rockaways and Jamaica Bay.[8] Hudson was attempting to find the Northwest Passage. On September 11, Hudson sailed into the Upper New York Bay,[9] and the following day began a journey up what is now called the Hudson River in his honor.
By 1639, the Mohegan tribe sold most of the Rockaways to the Dutch West India Company.[10] In 1664, the English defeated the Dutch colony and took over their lands in present-day New York.[note 2][11] In 1685, the band chief, Tackapoucha, and the English governor of the province agreed to sell the Rockaways to a Captain Palmer for 31 pounds sterling.[8][12] The Rockaway Peninsula was originally designated as part of the Town of Hempstead, then a part of Queens County. Palmer and the Town of Hempstead disputed over who owned Rockaway, so in 1687 he sold the land to Richard Cornell, an iron master from Flushing.[8][13] Cornell and his family lived on a homestead on what is now Central Avenue, near the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. At his death, Cornell was buried in a small family cemetery, Cornell Cemetery.[8]
19th century
The Cornell property was split into 46 lots in 1808 following a partition lawsuit.[7][14]: 20 Several wealthy New Yorkers created the Rockaway Association, which brought many of the lots and started developing resorts in the area in 1833.[7][14]: 83–84 Rockaway became a popular area for seaside hotels starting in the 1830s, with the first resort being founded at Far Rockaway in 1835.[15]
In the 19th century, people traveled to the Rockaways by horse-drawn carriages or on horseback. A ferry powered by steam sailed from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn.[8] The peninsula's popularity grew in the 1880s with the construction of the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch to Long Island City and Flatbush Terminal (now Atlantic Terminal), which facilitated population growth.[16]
In 1878, the eastern community of Bayswater was laid out. One of Bayswater's early developers was William Trist Bailey, who had purchased the property.[17] In 1893, much of Hog Island, a small sandbar island off the coast of Far Rockaway washed away in a hurricane.[18] The remainder of the island eroded by 1902. Plates, along with older artifacts, still wash up along the shore of Rockaway Beach.[19][20]
The Rockaway Peninsula was originally part of the Town of Hempstead, then a part of Queens County. In 1897, the central peninsular towns of Hammels (named after a local landowner, Louis Hammels)[16] and Hollands merged, and were incorporated as the Village of Rockaway Beach. Rockaway split from the Town of Hempstead and along with the three western Queens townships of Jamaica, Flushing and Newtown plus Long Island City, formed the new borough of Queens, which was consolidated into Greater New York City in 1898 [21] (the remainder of Hempstead Town, plus the two other eastern Queens townships of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay did not become part of the borough and ultimately split from Queens with the formation of neighboring Nassau County in 1899). The village of Rockaway Park became incorporated into the City of Greater New York on January 1, 1898.
Early 20th century
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Broad_Channel%2C_Queens_in_1915.jpg/220px-Broad_Channel%2C_Queens_in_1915.jpg)
In the early 1900s, a new railroad station opened up the community and the rest of the peninsula to a broad range of the population. The wealthy no longer had a monopoly on the peninsula, and various amusement parks, stores, and resort hotels attracted people from all over the city to spend a day or a whole summer there. Much of the area was developed by James S. Remsen and William Wainwright. In this era, it became known as "New York's Playground". Around this time, Breezy Point in the Rockaways began as a neighborhood of summer beach bungalows; this kind of house became the most popular type of housing during the summer months. Even today, some of these remain, converted to provide modern amenities, although the vast majority were razed in urban renewal during the 1960s.[22]
In 1900, a New York State judge ordered that the land west of Rockaway Park be put up for auction. Belle Harbor and adjacent Neponsit were bought by Edward P. Hatch, who sold it to the West Rockaway Land Company in 1907.[23] Residential lots in Belle Harbor were auctioned off in 1915.[24] Belle Harbor was named by the president of the West Rockaway Land Company, Frederick J. Lancaster, who had earlier developed the Rockaway neighborhood of Edgemere.[25] In 1905, before Lancaster acquired the land, a group of men wishing to form a yacht club entered into a grant agreement with the West Rockaway Land Company. The group, which had named itself the Belle Harbor Yacht Club, bought property from the company for $4,000. The agreement included 200 square feet of land and thirty plots of upland. That same year, the group received corporation status from the State of New York and by 1908 began participating in its first interclub ocean races with some of the city's other yacht clubs.[26] A new street system, based on numbered streets with the prefix "Beach", was laid out for the Rockaways in 1912 to help development.[27]
The central-peninsula neighborhood of Hammels, along with the eastern communities of Arverne and Far Rockaway, tried to secede from the city several times, complaining that consolidation had brought high taxes and poor services.[28] In 1915 and 1917, a bill approving the secession passed in the legislature but was vetoed by then-Mayor John Purroy Mitchel.[29]
Rockaway's famous amusement park, Rockaways' Playland, was built in 1901 and quickly became a major attraction for people around the region. With its growing popularity, concern over swimming etiquette became a problem and early in 1904, the Captain of the NYPD, Louis Kreuscher, issued rules for those using the beach, censoring the bathing suits to be worn, where photographs could be taken, and specifying that women in bathing suits were not allowed to leave the beachfront.[30] The park was grand for its time. One of its most popular attractions, the Atom Smasher roller coaster, would be featured at the beginning of This is Cinerama, a pre-IMAX type movie, in 1952.[31] An Olympic-size swimming pool and a million-dollar midway also were built within the amusement park; they would serve the community for more than 80 years.[32] It was a popular place for New York families until 1985, when insurance costs and competition from major regional parks made it impossible to continue operations.[13]
Arverne became well known as a beachfront community with inexpensive summer bungalows, and hotels of varying levels of expense and luxury as well as amusements and boardwalk concessions, and it also attracted a year-round residential community. One grandiose plan for the community included a canal running through the neighborhood, reminiscent of the Amstel canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The canal was never built; its right-of-way became Amstel Boulevard, which, except for a stub west of Beach 71st Street, was later incorporated into Beach Channel Drive.
The first transatlantic flight departed from Neponsit on the Rockaway Peninsula. On May 8, 1919, four United States Navy Curtis-model seaplanes took off from what is now Beach Channel Drive to Newfoundland, Canada, the Azores Islands, and Lisbon, Portugal. Finally, on May 31, 1919, one of the planes, piloted by Lt. Commander Albert C. Read, arrived in Plymouth, England.[33]
Robert Moses era
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Peninsula_QPL_Rock_Beach_jeh.jpg/220px-Peninsula_QPL_Rock_Beach_jeh.jpg)
In the 1930s, Robert Moses came to power as New York City's Parks Commissioner and his extensive road and transportation projects were both a benefit and a disaster for the neighborhood. As commissioner, Moses ordered the construction of the Marine Parkway Bridge and the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge. The bridges were completed in 1937 and 1939 respectively. The Marine Parkway Bridge was built farther west on the peninsula between Jacob Riis Park and Breezy Point linking the isolated communities to Brooklyn. The Cross Bay Bridge landed in the middle of the neighborhood of Rockaway Beach.[34][35] The construction of the two bridges started to transform the neighborhood and the rest of the peninsula into a more year-round residential area or commuter town, as people had a more convenient way to travel to and from work. The conversion of the Rockaway Beach LIRR branch to the Rockaway subway line also brought an increase to Rockaway's permanent residents.[citation needed] Robert Caro, who wrote The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, stated "Why did the Rockaways end up with so much government-financed housing? Largely because Robert Moses wanted it there."[36]
Although the bridges were intended to improve the Rockaways, Moses' other projects both directly and indirectly hurt the community. One such failed project was the planned construction of the Shore Front Parkway in the 1950s and 1960s. Wanting to connect Staten Island to the Hamptons, Moses focused on making a highway through the Rockaway Peninsula. His idea was to connect the Marine Parkway Bridge with the Atlantic Beach Bridge, which connected the Rockaway Peninsula to Nassau County. The plan would also provide an extension midway through to include the Cross Bay Bridge. Many feared that such an extensive project would do more harm to the peninsula than good and pointed to the community displacement that had happened in the South Bronx because of Moses' roadway construction[37] Even though Moses never got to make his highway, he did leave his mark. A piece of the planned parkway that ran west to east in the Rockaway Park and Rockaway Beach neighborhoods was constructed and opened in 1939. Houses were cut in half to build the four-lane street. Some of these houses are still standing today. The existing, still unfinished street is locally known as the "road from nowhere to nowhere" because it does not have any relevant connections to any other area or highway.[38]
Robert Moses' construction of other recreational areas and facilities, such as the New York Aquarium and Jones Beach State Park, indirectly affected the neighborhood as well. These more modern recreational facilities lured tourists and beachgoers away from the peninsula. With fewer customers, businesses and hotels closed, and by the 1950s, the area had fallen into economic decline. The transition from a summer vacationing area to a full-time residential neighborhood had taken its toll.[39]
Late 20th century
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Hammel_NYCHA_jeh.jpg/220px-Hammel_NYCHA_jeh.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Women_Veterans_Monument_Rock_Beach_jeh.jpg/170px-Women_Veterans_Monument_Rock_Beach_jeh.jpg)
After World War II, several large public housing projects were built in the region as part of Moses' overall citywide neighborhood redevelopment plans, but these eventually became hotbeds of crime and related social pathologies.[citation needed] This provoked a backlash from some of the peninsula's more established residents (many of whom are of Irish Catholic heritage). A strong Jewish community (most of whose members are Ashkenazi Jews) also exists in and around Far Rockaway. For example, the city constructed the Hammel Houses in Rockaway Beach, one of the many urban renewal efforts that dominated the community and much of its eastern neighbors in the last half of the 20th century. The New York City Housing Authority purchased the land in 1952 on the north side of the elevated track. In 1964, the Authority decided to demolish and rebuild the entire area and turn it into a park.[39]
With the advent of inexpensive travel, air-conditioning, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the Interstate Highway system, Rockaway lost its luster as a recreation area, and development transformed much of it into residential communities.[40][41]
In 1960, Breezy Point was sold to the Atlantic Improvement State Corporation for $17 million; the residents of the 3,500-home community purchased half of the land for about $11 million and formed the Breezy Point Cooperative.[42] The construction of apartment buildings commenced in the late 1960s and was halted by City ordinance.[43] At the same time, much of the housing in the area was converted into year-round housing for low-income residents, and some of the bungalows were used as public housing.[44][45] In Arverne, the New York City Planning Commission approved the designation of a 302-acre (122 ha) Arverne renewal area in 1964.[46] However, for thirty years, the area went mostly undeveloped.[47]
In 1998, Broad Channel's Labor Day parade included a float that parodied the racially motivated dragging death of an African American man, James Byrd Jr. Entitled "Black to the Future - Broad Channel in 2098", the float carried white men wearing blackface and Afro wigs, including two city firefighters and a city police officer who were fired from their jobs after their participation came to light.[48] They sued the city for wrongful termination, and their claims were upheld in federal district court in 2003. Residents expressed support for and relief at the ruling, hoping that an end to the court battle would help to rehabilitate the image of the town.[49] The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the ruling in 2006, holding that the firings could stand.[50]
21st century
After decades of grand redevelopment plans that fell through — for casinos, sports arenas, and other projects — planning began in 2002 for a large vacant section between Rockaway Beach and Arverne. By 2004,[51] people were moving into the first completed buildings of the Arverne-By-the-Sea[52] development. By 2012, the development included some 2,300 homes.[53] That sparked nearby retail development.[54][55] Far Rockaway Shopping Center, in downtown Far Rockaway between the Far Rockaway subway station, and the Far Rockaway LIRR station, got its first new store in decades.[56] Phase I of construction was completed in 2011; Phase II was begun in 2006.[57]
Elsewhere, along the beach, zoning laws written decades ago for the hotel trade have allowed developers to build high-rises alongside the smaller old and new houses. In response, some communities have approved rezoning plans for their neighborhoods to stop "out of character" development.[58]
Opponents also contend that due to the rapidly growing population,[59] the current infrastructure is inadequate and that there are environmental issues to consider. Those in favor of the development, however, contend that the development will help spur economic development and that the infrastructure cannot be upgraded until the population has reached a more noticeable level. Furthermore, some developers have questioned the legality of "down zoning".[60] On August 14, 2008, however, a rezoning plan that limits the size of some buildings was approved by the New York City Council for five communities on the peninsula covering 280 blocks. The communities that were included are Rockaway Park, Rockaway Beach, Somerville, Edgemere, and Far Rockaway.[61]
With more and more people moving to the city, the Rockaways become a destination for adventurous day trippers. The area appears in New York Magazine's 2007 spring travel issue as a place for "male bonding" and to "scuba dive for sunken ships" via Sheepshead Bay's Jeanne II docks at Pier Five.[62] Today, the area still draws crowds during the summer with well-tended beaches. Jacob Riis Park and Fort Tilden are situated towards the western end of the peninsula, and are part of the Gateway National Recreational Area, which was created in 1972 as one of the first urban national parks. The 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long Rockaway Boardwalk and 170 acres (0.69 km2) of sandy beaches, fully accessible by the subway, make this a popular summer day trip for New York City residents. Toward the western end of the boardwalk, several portions of the beach are fenced off to preserve the nesting habitat for several species of terns and plovers, making for a unique urban birdwatching locale.
After 2010, there was a major resurgence in the Rockaways' popularity. Various media began reporting on artists such as Andrew VanWyngarden, co-founder of popular psychedelic rock band MGMT, purchasing homes on the beach.[63] The peninsula was dubbed "Williamsburg on the Rockaways" because some surfers from there began to spend whole summers out in the Rockaways. A number of businesses that cater to them have become popular among these down for the day tourists.[64] There is even a summer shuttle bus which transports people from Williamsburg to the Rockaways.[65]
In February 2016, the Rockaway Peninsula was one of four neighborhoods featured in an article in The New York Times about "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods".[66]
Disasters and events
19th and 20th centuries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Flight_587_NOAA_Photo_of_Crash_Site.jpg/220px-Flight_587_NOAA_Photo_of_Crash_Site.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Stripped_boardwalk_RB_Sandy_jeh.jpg/220px-Stripped_boardwalk_RB_Sandy_jeh.jpg)
Storms and fires damaged many of the attractions on the Rockaway Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On August 24, 1893, an intense storm, later classified as a hurricane, destroyed Hog Island, a mile-long island off the Rockaway coast that supported bath houses, restaurants and other leisure-time venues.[20] On January 3, 1914, a violent storm devastated the peninsula, and swept the 1,200-seat Arverne Pier Theater away to sea.[67] On June 15, 1922, much of Arverne was leveled by a fire that left about 10,000 people homeless, although the neighborhood was quick to rebuild.[68]
On June 6, 1993, a ship called the Golden Venture beached near Fort Tilden on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula. The ship contained 296 Chinese illegal immigrants, including 13 crew members. Ten people drowned trying to reach shore.[69]
2001 disasters
Over 70 Rockaway residents were killed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, including people who worked there and New York City Fire Department firefighters and EMS personnel dispatched to the location. The city later opened Tribute Park on Jamaica Bay north of the Beach 116th Street shopping area in Rockaway Park, dedicating it to their memory. In the center of the park is a piece of twisted steel from the ruins of the trade center's Twin Towers. Solemn ceremonies are held at the park every September 11, including a reading of the names of all the locals who perished on that day.[70]
Almost exactly two months after 9/11, on November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in Belle Harbor, killing 265 people: 260 aboard the aircraft and five on the ground. Many of the passengers on the plane were from the Dominican community in Washington Heights, Manhattan.[71] A temporary memorial was developed at the actual site of the disaster, on Newport Avenue. But after consultation with the families in the Belle Harbor and Washington Heights communities, a public memorial was erected at the south end of Beach 116th Street, a major shopping district and transportation hub in the area. Ceremonies commemorating the disaster are held at the memorial every November 12, including a reading of the names of all of those killed in the crash. In 2001, a resident told The Guardian: "It's impossible to understand unless you live here ... Father Michael Geraghty, a priest quoted in the same article, said that it was common for people to live in the houses that their parents lived in and that many families lived in the same houses for generations. The neighborhood suffered heavy losses from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."[72] The impact of the 9/11 attacks and Flight 587 on the community was the subject of the book Braving the Waves: Rockaway Rises, and Rises Again by Kevin Boyle.[note 3] The book contained many personal accounts of Rockaway residents and is interspersed with descriptions of other disasters in the Rockaways.
Hurricane Sandy
In October 2012, Rockaway was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.[73][74] Many homes, especially in Breezy Point, were damaged or destroyed by high water, or by fires that raged beyond the capability of first responders to contain them. Residents lost everything in their basements, and hundreds of vehicles were ruined. One car caught fire when someone tried to start their vehicle, but residents put the fire out before official help arrived.[75] On August 4, 2013, Senator Charles Schumer announced that the first phase of reconstruction on the beach, completed, would lay the groundwork for a second contract awarded later during the summer of 2013, totally paid for by the federal government through the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.[76]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/SW_edge_of_burnt_district_Breezy_Sandy_jeh.jpg/220px-SW_edge_of_burnt_district_Breezy_Sandy_jeh.jpg)
During the storm, a fire spread between the closely spaced houses of Breezy Point, while firefighters' access to the area was greatly hampered by flooding. It destroyed 126 homes and damaged 22 more. Thousands of other houses were damaged by the flooding. Fires also wreaked havoc along several blocks of Beach 130th Street in Belle Harbor, and among storefronts along Rockaway Beach Blvd. near Beach 114th Street in Rockaway Park. Large portions of the Rockaway Boardwalk were swept away by the floodwaters, leaving only its supporting piers.[77][78][79][80][81] The FDNY found 130 homes burned to the ground.[82][83] Nearby, another 50 homes were damaged by the fire.[75] According to an official report in December, rising seawater caused the fire by contacting a house's electrical wires.[84] "Whalemina," a large, brightly colored statue of a smiling whale that had been a beloved iconic symbol of Rockaway since the 1990s, disappeared from Beach 94th Street near the Boardwalk and was presumed to have been swept out to sea.[85]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Communities
- Arverne – between Beach 56th Street and Beach 79th Street
- Bayswater – located to the northeast of Far Rockaway, along the southeastern shore of Jamaica Bay
- Belle Harbor – between Beach 126th Street and Beach 141st Street
- Breezy Point – located on the westernmost portion of the Rockaways, west of Fort Tilden
- Broad Channel – while not technically on the peninsula, it is located just north of the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge
- Edgemere – between Beach 32nd Street and Beach 56th Street
- Far Rockaway – between Nassau County line and Beach 32nd Street
- Hammels – along Beach 84th Street; also extends to Beach 79th Street
- Neponsit – between Beach 142nd Street and Beach 149th Street
- Rockaway Beach – between Beach 73rd Street and Beach 108th Street
- Rockaway Park – between Beach 105th Street and Beach 126th Street
- Roxbury – west of Marine Parkway Bridge, on the north side of Beach Channel Drive/State Road
- Seaside – between Beach 84th Street and Beach 105th Street
Demographics
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of the Rockaways, including Broad Channel, was 114,961, a change of 8,261 (7.2%) from the 106,700 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 4,758.96 acres (1,925.88 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 24.2 inhabitants per acre (15,500/sq mi; 6,000/km2).[86]
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 35.2% (40,446) White, 38.9% (44,663) African American, 0.3% (309) Native American, 2.2% (2,555) Asian, 0.1% (63) Pacific Islander, 0.8% (877) from other races, and 1.7% (1,950) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21% (24,098) of the population.[87]
The entirety of Community Board 14, which comprises the Rockaways and Broad Channel, had 114,390 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 76.5 years.[88]: 2, 20 This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[89]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [90] Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 26% are between the ages of 0–17, 25% between 25–44, and 26% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 14% respectively.[88]: 2
As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 14 was $54,012.[91] In 2018, an estimated 18% of Rockaway residents lived impoverished, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in eleven residents (9%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 53% in Rockaway, slightly higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Rockaway is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[88]: 7
Police and crime
Rockaway is patrolled by two precincts of the NYPD.[92] The 101st Precinct is located at 16-12 Mott Avenue and serves Far Rockaway,[4] while the 100th Precinct is located at 92-24 Rockaway Beach Boulevard and serves the rest of the peninsula.[3] The 100th and 101st Precincts collectively ranked 10th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. However, the low-income and densely populated 101st Precinct has significantly more crime than the 100th Precinct, which is high-income and more insular.[93] As of 2018[update], with a non-fatal assault rate of 71 per 100,000 people, Rockaway's rate of violent crimes per capita is greater than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 824 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole.[88]: 8
The 100th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 74.5% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2 murders, 5 rapes, 38 robberies, 93 felony assaults, 59 burglaries, 161 grand larcenies, and 17 grand larcenies' auto in 2018.[94] The 101st Precinct also has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 74.6% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 6 murders, 26 rapes, 151 robberies, 301 felony assaults, 98 burglaries, 250 grand larcenies, and 31 grand larcenies' auto in 2018.[95]
Fire safety
Rockaway is served by these New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations:[96]
- Engine Company 329 — 402 Beach 169th Street[97]
- Engine Company 268/Ladder Company 137 – 257 Beach 116th Street[98]
- Engine Company 266 – 92-20 Rockaway Beach Boulevard[99]
- Engine Company 265/Ladder Company 121/Battalion 47/EMS Station 47 – 303 Beach 49th Street[100]
- Engine Companies 264 and 328/Ladder Company 134 – 16-15 Central Avenue[101]
Health
As of 2018[update], preterm births and births to teenage mothers are more common in Rockaway than in other places citywide. In Rockaway, there were 113 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 20.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[88]: 11 Rockaway has a relatively average population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 11%, which is slightly lower than the citywide rate of 12%.[88]: 14
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Rockaway is 0.006 milligrams per cubic metre (6.0×10−9 oz/cu ft), the lowest of any neighborhood in the city.[88]: 9 Sixteen percent of Rockaway residents are smokers, which is slightly higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[88]: 13 In Rockaway, 32% of residents are obese, 15% are diabetic, and 34% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 20%, 14%, and 24% respectively.[88]: 16 In addition, 23% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[88]: 12
Eighty-nine percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 75% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", slightly lower than the city's average of 78%.[88]: 13 For every supermarket in Rockaway, there are 8 bodegas.[88]: 10
The only large hospital on the Rockaway Peninsula is St. John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore.[102]
Post offices and ZIP Codes
Rockaway is covered by multiple ZIP Codes. From west to east, they are 11697 (Breezy Point), 11694 (Rockaway Park), 11693 (Broad Channel), 11692 (Arverne), and 11691 (Far Rockaway).[103] The United States Post Office operates four locations in Rockaway:
- Arverne Station – 329 Beach 59th Street[104]
- Far Rockaway Station – 18-36 Mott Avenue[105]
- Rockaway Station – 113-25 Beach Channel Drive[106]
- Rockaway Beach Station – 90-14 Rockaway Beach Blvd[107]
Parks and recreation
The western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula is located within the Gateway National Recreation Area.[108] The National Park Service operates three sites as part of the area.[109] Jacob Riis Park is located near the western end of the peninsula, covering approximately 262 acres (106 ha) west of Beach 149th Street in Neponsit.[110][111][112] Fort Tilden, a group of historic military installations, is located west of Jacob Riis Park.[113] The final part, Breezy Point Tip, is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) beach that is also a wildlife breeding area.[114]
NYC Parks operates city-owned parks along the peninsula.[108] Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, extending nearly seven miles from Beach 9th to Beach 149th Streets on the Atlantic Ocean.[115][116] Park attractions along the beach and boardwalk include numerous play areas, restrooms, sporting fields, concession stands, and other facilities. Rockaway Beach is New York City's only open-ocean surfing beach, with designated 365-day surfing areas at Beach 69, Beach 90, and Beach 110 Streets; surf lessons are offered at Beach 69th Street. There are also three wildlife sanctuaries: the Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary,[117][118] Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary,[119] and Vernam Barbadoes Preserve.[120] Other parks from west to east include Beach Channel Park,[121] Tribune Park (a 9/11 memorial),[122] Rockaway Community Park,[123] and Bayswater Park.[124] In Arverne, an empty lot is being proposed for conversion into Thursby Basin Park.[125]
One state park operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Bayswater Point State Park, is located in Bayswater next to NYC Parks' Bayswater Park.[126]
Education
Rockaway generally has a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update]. While 35% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 22% have less than a high school education and 43% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[88]: 6 The percentage of Rockaway students excelling in math rose from 32% in 2000 to 58% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 35% to 48% during the same time period.[127]
Rockaway's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is greater than the rest of New York City. In Rockaway, 29% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, more than the citywide average of 20%.[89]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [88]: 6 Additionally, 71% of high school students in Rockaway graduate on time, less than the citywide average of 75%.[88]: 6
Public elementary and middle schools
- P.S./M.S. 42 Robert Vernam
- P.S./M.S. 43 The School by the Sea
- P.S. 47 Chris Galas
- P.S. 104 The Bayswater School
- P.S. 105 The Bay School
- P.S. 106 Light House Elementary School
- P.S./M.S. 114 The Belle Harbor School
- P.S./M.S. 183 Dr. Richard Green
- P.S. 197 The Ocean School
- P.S. 215 Lucretia Mott (closed in 2015)
- P.S. 225 (closed in 2008)
- P.S. 253 The Randolph Holder School for Social Justice
- P.S. 256
- M.S. 53 Brian Piccolo
- M.S./H.S. 323 Scholars' Academy
Public high schools
- Far Rockaway High School (closed in 2011)
- Beach Channel High School (closed in 2014)
- Scholars' Academy
- Channel View School for Research
Parochial and private schools
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Channel_View_School_B101_jeh.jpg/220px-Channel_View_School_B101_jeh.jpg)
- Stella Maris High School (closed in 2010)
- Beth El Temple
- Chaim Berlin High School
- Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR)
- Mesivta Chaim Shlomo
- Bnois Bais Yaacov
- Tichon Meir Moshe
- Sh'or Yoshuv Institute of Jewish Studies
- Siach Yitzchok Elementary School for Boys
- Torah Academy for Girls
- West End Temple
- Yeshiva Darchei Torah
- Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
- The Hebrew Institute of Long Island
- Yeshiva Bnei Torah
- St. Francis de Sales
- St. Camillus
- St. Rose of Lima Catholic Academy
- Church Of God Christian Academy[128]
- St. Mary Star of the Sea
- Scholars' Academy
- Nikitas Language Abroad Schools, a series of language schools
- St. Virgilius School, a Roman Catholic School that was part of the Diocese of Brooklyn, closed in 2006, as part of Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's effort to close, en masse, Catholic schools with low enrollment.
Synagogues
- Agudath Israel of Long Island
- Agudath Israel of Rockaway
- Agudath Israel of West Lawrence
- Bayswater Jewish Center
- Beis Medrash Ateres Yisroel (Rabbi Avraham Blumenkranz)
- Bnos Israel Institute (Rabbi Shmelke Rubin)
- Congregation Kneseth Israel in Far Rockaway
- Congregation Shaarey Tefila
- Congregation Shaarey Zedek
- Congregation Shomrai Shabbos
- Young Israel of Far Rockaway
- Young Israel of Wavecrest and Bayswater
Libraries
Queens Public Library operates four branches in Rockaway:
- The Arverne branch at 312 Beach 54th Street[129]
- The Far Rockaway branch at 1003 Beach 20th Street (temporary location).[130] The old library at Central Avenue is being replaced with a new structure, and construction started in November 2018.[131]
- The Peninsula branch at 92-25 Rockaway Beach Boulevard[132]
- The Seaside branch at 116-15 Rockaway Beach Boulevard[133]
Transportation
Rockaway is served by multiple transportation services.
Trains and subways
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Beach_44_Street_vc.jpg/250px-Beach_44_Street_vc.jpg)
The New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line has two branches on the peninsula. The eastern branch, served by the A train, serves the eastern Rockaways and contains a terminal at Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue station. The western branch, served by the A and S trains, serves the central Rockaways and terminates at Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street station.[134] The latter was the terminal of the former Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).
The Far Rockaway terminal station for the LIRR's Far Rockaway Branch is located in Far Rockaway. The branch had originally been part of a loop that traveled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay through Queens where it reconnected with other branches. Frequent fires and maintenance problems led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route, which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line.[135]
Buses
MTA Regional Bus Operations routes include local Q22, Q35, Q52/Q53 SBS, Q113, Q114 and Manhattan express buses QM16 and QM17.[136] Also, Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) routes include n31, n32 and n33 in Far Rockaway only.[136] Unlike other NICE routes in Queens, these buses operate open-door in Far Rockaway, meaning customers can ride these buses wholly within the neighborhood without necessarily going to Nassau County. NYC Beach Bus, a privately operated shuttle bus between downtown Brooklyn or Williamsburg and the area around Beach 84th Street and Jacob Riis Park, also runs in the area. One can also take a converted former school bus named Rockabus from Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[137]
Ferry
After Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 destroyed much of the IND Rockaway Line, ferry operator SeaStreak began running a city-subsidized ferry service between a makeshift ferry slip at Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway Park and Pier 11/Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District, then continuing on to the East 34th Street Ferry Landing. In August 2013, a stop was added at Brooklyn Army Terminal.[138] The service was extended multiple times.[139] finally ending on October 31, 2014.[140] On May 1, 2017, NYC Ferry's Rockaway route started operations between Pier 11/Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District and Beach 108th Street in Rockaway Park, with a stop at Brooklyn Army Terminal.[141][142]
Culture
The Rockaway Arts Council provides a wide range of events throughout the year. Two art groups in Rockaway, the Rockaway Theater Company and the Rockaway Artists' Alliance, hold most of their productions in Fort Tilden.
Cultural references include:
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry collection Far Rockaway of the Heart (New Directions, 1998) ISBN 0-8112-1347-1
- Boardwalk Empire, a popular HBO series (2010-2014), was partially filmed at Fort Tilden and the Boardwalk, standing in for Atlantic City in the 1920s.
- Jill Eisenstadt's classic novel From Rockaway is set within the world of Rockaway's lifeguard culture during the 1980s. Her 2017 novel, Swell, brings back some of the same characters over one eventful weekend in June 2002.[143][144]
- In the early 1980s, Christine Lavin, a New York-based folk singer, wrote the poignant song "Rockaway" about her family home.
- Woody Allen's Radio Days, a 1987 movie about a working-class family during the Golden Age of Radio, was filmed on location in Rockaway Park, with period facades and cars.[145]
- Patricia Reilly Giff's 1998 Newbery Award-winning novel Lily's Crossing is set in the Rockaways. The story, about a girl's friendship with a Hungarian refugee, was inspired by the author's own childhood memories of Rockaway Beach during World War II.[146] A companion book, Willow Run, features Rockaway as the home of Margaret Dillon, a child whose family moves in 1944 to Willow Run, Michigan (now between Ypsilanti, Michigan and Belleville, Michigan) to work at Henry Ford's Willow Run B-24 Liberator bomber plant as part of the United States civilian war effort.
- Naomi Ragen's 2002 semi-autobiographical novel Chains Around the Grass is set in a public housing project in Rockaway, reflecting Ragen's own upbringing there.[147]
- The 2010 documentary film Our Hawaii, by Kryssa Schemmerling, explores the surf culture that sprang up at Rockaway starting in the late 1960s.[148]
- The Rockaways' distance from the heart of the city and seeming status as a sleepy, isolated, career-killing backwater far from the big-city hustle and bustle and professional challenge of police work in fast-track Manhattan was noted in a Season 8 episode of NYPD Blue ("Thumb Enchanted Evening"); dismayed by the news that detective squad leader Arthur Fancy has been promoted to captain and will soon leave the 15th Squad, Andy Sipowicz warns him that "when you're out in Far Rockaway, working some serial purse-snatcher, don't say nobody warned you."[citation needed]
- On The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Susie Meyerson is from Broad Channel Avenue in the Rockaways.
- The Ramones' song "Rockaway Beach", on their 1977 album Rocket to Russia, became the American punk rock group's highest-charting single, peaking at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written in the surf rock style of the Beach Boys and other similar bands, the song was composed by the group's bassist, Dee Dee Ramone, who liked to spend time on the beach there.[149][150] In 2013, the 36-year-old song was revived in a radio ad campaign aimed at promoting Rockaways' beaches as part of the peninsula's post-Hurricane Sandy recovery effort.[151]
Notable people by neighborhood
![]() |
Breezy Point
- Hugh Carey (1919–2011), 51st Governor of New York, was a resident during the time he served in Congress.[152]
- Harry J. Donnelly (1922–1989), politician who served two terms in the New York State Assembly.[153]
- Charles Hynes (1935–2019), district attorney of Kings County, New York from 1990 until 2013.[154]
- Brian McNamee (born c. 1967), former strength and conditioning coach for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays[155]
- Jimmy Ring (1895–1965), Major League Baseball player[156]
- Daniel T. Scannell (1912–2000), attorney and business executive who held numerous positions in New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[157]
- Bob Turner (born 1941), businessman and politician who served as the United States representative for New York's 9th congressional district from 2011 to 2013.[158][159]
Far Rockaway
- Nisson Alpert (1927–1986), rabbi who was Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary[160]
- Khaleel Anderson (born 1996), politician who has represented the 31st district of the New York State Assembly since 2020[161]
- Richard Bey (born 1951), talk show host; went to Far Rockaway High School[162]
- Baruch Samuel Blumberg (1925–2011), winner of 1976 Nobel Prize in Medicine; graduated from Far Rockaway High School in 1942[163]
- Avrohom Blumenkrantz (1944–2007), Orthodox rabbi who was a widely consulted authority on the laws of Passover kashrut[164]
- Albert J. Brackley (1874–1937), politician who served in the New York State Assembly[165]
- Steven Brill (born 1950), journalist and founder of Court TV[166]
- Joyce Brothers (1927–2013), family psychologist and advice columnist; grew up in Far Rockaway[167]
- Joseph Cassidy (c. 1866–1920), political boss who served as borough president of Queens[168]
- Chinx (1983–2015), rapper, grew up in both the Redfern Houses and Edgemere Houses (the latter are now known as Ocean Bay Apartments)[169]
- Cormega (born Cory McKay, 1970), rapper, lived in Far Rockaway as a youth[170]
- Mac DeMarco (born 1990), Canadian songwriter and musician; has a house in Far Rockaway, where he recorded his album Another One[171]
- Father MC (born 1967), recording artist with Uptown Records[172]
- Folorunso Fatukasi (born 1995), defensive end for the New York Jets[173]
- Olakunle Fatukasi (born 1999), linebacker for Rutgers
- Joan Feynman (1927–2020), astrophysicist and NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal recipient[174]
- Richard Feynman (1918–1988), physicist and Nobel Prize winner; grew up in Far Rockaway and graduated from Far Rockaway High School.[163][175]
- Marcus Gaither (1961–2020), professional basketball player in France and Israel, who played the guard position and led the Israel Basketball Premier League in scoring in 1989–90[176]
- Mary Gordon (born 1949), writer of novels, memoirs, and literary criticism, and professor at Barnard College; born in Far Rockaway and lived there for several years[177]
- Margo Guryan (1937-2021), singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist who is remembered for her 1968 album "Take A Picture"[178]
- Steven Handel (born 1945), educator and restoration ecologist[179]
- Zander Hollander (1923–2014), sportswriter, journalist, editor and archivist[180]
- Carl Icahn (born 1936), businessman and philanthropist; grew up in Far Rockaway and went to Far Rockaway High School[163][181]
- Al Jaffee (1921-2023), cartoonist best known for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in[182]
- Nancy Lieberman (born 1958), women's basketball pioneer; grew up in Far Rockaway[183][184]
- Deborah Lipstadt (born 1947), historian[185]
- Bernard Madoff (1938-2021), former American stockbroker, investment advisor, and financier who was convicted of fraud; went to Far Rockaway High School, where he met his wife, Ruth Alpern[186]
- Steve Madden (born 1958), shoe designer and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd; born in Far Rockaway[187]
- Cliff Mass (born 1952/53), atmospheric sciences professor and weather and climate blogger; born in Far Rockaway[188]
- Alice Nielsen (1872–1943), Broadway performer and operatic soprano; owned a house in Far Rockaway in the 1920s[189]
- Barbara Novak (born 1929), art historian, novelist, National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist[190]
- Phil Ochs (1940–1976), folk-protest singer; resided here for a period during childhood and died at his sister's home here[191]
- Ryan Pearson (born 1990), professional basketball player[192]
- Kelly Price (born 1973), nine-time Grammy nominated R&B and gospel singer and songwriter grew up in the Edgemere Projects[193]
- Rammellzee (1960–2010), rap pioneer; born and died in Far Rockaway[194]
- Kenneth Alan Ribet (born 1948), mathematician
- Burton Richter (1931–2018), winner of 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics; graduated from Far Rockaway High School in 1948[195]
- Gary Schwartz (born 1940), art historian[196][197]
- MC Serch (born 1967 as Michael Berrin), former member of the hip hop group 3rd Bass[198]
- Raymond Smullyan (1919-2017), mathematician; grew up in Far Rockaway[199]
- Herbert Sturhahn (1902–1979), football player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame; born in Far Rockaway[200]
- Conrad Thibault (1903–1987), baritone vocalist who frequently appeared on radio, recordings, and concert tours[201]
Rockaway Beach
- Skip Campbell (1948-2018), Florida legislator and mayor of Coral Springs, Florida born in Rockaway Beach.[202]
- Michael "Iz the Wiz" Martin (1958–2009), one of the most prominent graffiti writers of the early New York graffiti movement.[203]
- Jonathan Monaghan (born 1986), visual artist, born and raised in Rockaway Beach[204]
- Patti Smith (born 1946), punk rocker-poet, wrote about living in Rockaway Beach in her 2015 memoir, M Train.[205]
- Andrew VanWyngarden (born 1983), co-founder of psychedelic rock band MGMT, bought a house in Rockaway Beach in 2012.[206]
- Kenny Vance (born 1943), singer-songwriter and producer.[207]
- Alexa Naas (born 1989), mixed-race tech leader, born and raised in Rockaway Beach.
See also
Notes
- ^ See Metoac#Exonyms and Toponymy of New Netherland.
- ^ See New Amsterdam
- ^ Boyle was also the publisher of the peninsula's newest newspaper, The Rockaway Times. Boyle was the former editor of The Wave, one of Rockaway's local newspapers and the oldest weekly newspaper in New York City.
References
- ^ a b "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ Lucev, Emil (2007). The Rockaways. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4990-3.
- ^ a b "NYPD – 100th Precinct". www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ a b "NYPD – 101st Precinct". www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ Office of the New York State Comptroller, "An Economic and Demographic Snapshot of The Rockaways", Report 7-2023, September 2022.
- ^ "Rockaway, The Playground of New York", Annual yearbook of the Rockaways, June 1934
- ^ a b c "Rockaway Boardwalk Highlights". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e * "Rockaway... 'place of waters bright'" Archived November 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, rockawave.com. Accessed March 16, 2015.
- "The Dean Georges Collection: Far Rockaway, Edgemer, Arverne" Archived December 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Rockaway Memories. Accessed March 16, 2015.
- ^ Nevius, Michelle and James, "New York's many 9/11 anniversaries: the Staten Island Peace Conference" Archived August 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, September 8, 2008. Accessed May 31, 2009.
- ^ Governor Kieft's Personal War Archived January 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved November 28, 2006.
- ^ Henry L. Schoolcraft, "The Capture of New Amsterdam", English Historical Review (1907). Vol. 22 #88, pp 674–693 in JSTOR Archived August 7, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Matinecock Masonic Historical Society: History Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved November 28, 2006
- ^ a b "Rockaway..."place of waters bright"". The Wave. Archived from the original on November 27, 2006. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Bellot, Alfred H. (1918). "History of the Rockaways 1685-1917". Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ^ "The Rockaways, The City's Greatest Summer Resort". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 3, 1912. p. 6. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2020 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com
.
- ^ a b Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 120. ISBN 0300055366.
- ^ The Rockaways Archived January 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed October 2, 2007. "The Bayswater section was laid out about 1878 by William Trist Bailey, who purchased the property from J.B. and W. W. Cornell. The first Rockaway hunt with hounds started from this spot and the first yacht club was erected there."
- ^ The Big One Archived October 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, New York Press, Retrieved October 18, 2008. "In the years after the Civil War, developers built saloons and bathhouses, and Hog Island became a sort of 1890s version of the Hamptons. During the summers, the city's Democratic bosses used Hog Island as a kind of outdoor annex of Tammany Hall."
- ^ The Big One Archived October 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, New York Press, Retrieved October 18, 2008. "In the dredged-up sand, Coch's students found hundreds of artifacts—plates, whiskey bottles, teapots, beer mugs, lumps of coal and, what proved to be the most telling clue of all, an old hurricane lamp."
- ^ a b Onishi, Norimitsu (March 18, 1997). "Queens Spit Tried to Be a Resort but Sank in a Hurricane". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ "Before the Five-Borough City: Queens". Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2011. This map shows the boundaries of the former towns and the former city within the present Borough of Queens.
- ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (June 18, 2001). "The Census - A Region of Enclaves: Breezy Point, Queens; Bounded by Gates, Over a Toll Bridge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
The neighborhood, started in the early 1900s as a summer bungalow community and called the Irish Riviera...
- ^ Seyfried, Vincent; Asadorian, William (1999). Old Rockaway, New York, in Early Photographs. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. p. 93. ISBN 0-486-40668-7. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
- ^ "Belle Harbor Sale; Nearly 700 Lots with Big Ocean Frontage Announced for Auction". The New York Times. July 11, 1915. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "A Queens Timeline" Archived November 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Queens Tribune; accessed December 14, 2006
- ^ "Club History", Belle Harbor Yacht Club; accessed January 28, 2012 Archived April 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "New Street System for Rockaway; Thousands of Acres to be Opened Up for Immediate Development". The New York Times. July 7, 1912. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "Will Rockaways Benefit by Seceding from the City? - Newspapers.com". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 25, 1915. p. 61. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ "The Rockaways". Rootsweb.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
- ^ "A Summer Girl Edit". New York Times. May 16, 1904. p. 9.
- ^ "Theme Parks". About.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ^ "Rockaway...'place of waters bright'". The Wave. Archived from the original on November 27, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
- ^ "Neponsit Malls". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
- ^ "Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, Historical Overview". Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, Historical Overview". Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Mahler, Jonathan (December 3, 2012). "How the Coastline Became a Place to Put the Poor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ "An Oceanfront Parkway for the Rockaways". NYCroads.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
- ^ "Shore Front Parkway and Its Results". The Wave. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ^ a b "Hammel Playground". Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Sherman, Mark (March 11, 1984). "City Opens Its Biggest Plot, in Arverne, to Development". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "City Offers Proposals To Upgrade Rockaways". The New York Times. November 18, 1973. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Rockaway..."place of waters bright"" Archived November 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Documerica 1973 Archived January 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Atlantic Magazine
- ^ "Beach Bungalow Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Charles (March 16, 2012). "The Subway-Accessible, Surf-Ready, Urban Beach Paradise". New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ^ "Arverne Area for Renewal". The New York Times. November 26, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Steven Hevesi (December 7, 2003). "In Rockaways, a Tide Is Coming In". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ "The New York Racist Float Case: How the First Amendment Does - and Does Not - Protect Racist Cops and Firemen" Archived August 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, FindLaw, July 16, 2003.
- ^ Kilgannon, Corey (June 26, 2003). "Ruling in '98 Blackface Case Finds Favor in the Community". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ Cardwell, Diane (April 28, 2006). "Court Upholds City Firings Over Racial Insult at Parade". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ Kilgannon, Corey (November 19, 2012). "A Much Criticized Pocket of the Rockaways, Built to Survive a Storm". City Room. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
- ^ "Arverne by the Sea Website". Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "4Rockaway Beach becomes 'Hipster Hamptons". Newsday. August 13, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- ^ "4Top 10 neighborhoods for real estate investment". New York Daily News. August 10, 2012. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- ^ "Bloomberg's Big Day In Rockaway" (PDF). The Wave. November 10, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Rosenberg, Miriam (February 2, 2007). "Rockaway Park Votes 'Go' On Rezoning". The Wave. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
- ^ Large-Scale Development: Arverne Archived February 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, nyc.gov
- ^ Colangelo, Lisa (June 6, 2012). "Renewed hope for barren Far Rockaway Shopping Center". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Magoolahan, Brian (March 23, 2007). "Pop! Number of New Residents Surges". The Wave. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
- ^ Rosenberg, Miriam (July 14, 2006). "RB Downzone Debate Rages On". The Wave. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
- ^ "Rockaway Neighborhoods Rezoning". Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "Spring Travel: Day Trips," New York magazine, April 23, 2007, p.74
- ^ "Rockaways Hipsterfication Report: MGMT Buys A House, Beer Garden Looms". Gothamist. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Idov, Michael. "Williamsburg in the Rockaways". New York. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
- ^ "Rockaway Beach is the Hipster Hamptons". am New York. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Higgins, Michelle (February 26, 2016). "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ The Wave of Long Island, January 10, 1914, p. 1
- ^ "400 Buildings Burned at Arverne". The New York Times. June 16, 1922. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ Stout, David (November 18, 1995). "Suspected Organizer of Golden Venture Operation Is Arrested". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ Barnard, Anne (September 8, 2011). "Hit Hard by 9/11, a Piece of Queens Struggles to Let Go". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- ^ "Plane Crash in Queens." Seconds From Disaster. [documentary TV series]
- ^ Younge, Gary. "Flight to the death: Just two months after 9/11, a Queens suburb suffered the second-worst plane crash in US history. Five years on, residents tell Gary Younge, the cause remains worryingly unresolved" Archived February 7, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, November 11, 2006; accessed January 24, 2008. "On flight 587, myriad immigrant stories of hope foundered. On board was Hilda Yolanda Mayol, 26, a waitress who had escaped from the north tower of the World Trade Center and was heading to the Dominican Republic with her mother and children to take her mind off the trauma."
- ^ Shapiro, Lila; Knafo, Saki; Hallman, Ben (October 30, 2012). "Rockaways Face Widespread Destruction: It Was Like Sitting 'In The Middle Of The Sea'". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ Conlin, Michelle (October 30, 2012). "Huge fire in Sandy's wake destroys New York City beach community". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ a b Neumeister, Larry (October 30, 2012). "At least 80 flooded houses destroyed by NYC fire". USA Today. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Project adds 600,000 cubic yards of sand to help Rockaway Beach". MyFoxNy. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
- ^ Nessen, Stephen. "The First Neighbors Return to Devastated Breezy Point". WNYC.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ "Superstorm Sandy's toll: Mounting deaths, historic destruction, stranded residents". CNN. October 30, 2012. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
- ^ Sandy (October 30, 2012). "Update: Breezy Point, Queens blaze upgraded to 6-alarm fire, at least 50 homes completely destroyed by fire - @FDNY". breakingnews.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ Archived January 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine[dead link]
- ^ Leitsinger, Miranda (November 5, 2012). "Parting with life's props: A tough cleanup begins in Breezy Point - U.S. News". Usnews.nbcnews.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/30/superstorm-sandys-wrath/ Archived November 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine hpt=hp_t1
- ^ "Update: Breezy Point, Queens blaze upgraded to 6-alarm fire, at least 50 homes completely destroyed by fire - @FDNY - breakingnews.com". breakingnews.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "Cause of Breezy Point Fire During Sandy Determined: City Fire Marshals say that rising sea water came in contact with electrical wires". NBC New York. December 24, 2012. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "Rockaway residents missing their boardwalk and its beloved sentinel Whalemina; artist wants to recreate the icon". New York Daily News. December 2, 2012. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010 Archived June 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
- ^ Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010 Archived June 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Rockaway and Broad Channel (Including Arverne, Bayswater, Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Edgemere and Rockaway)" (PDF). nyc.gov. NYC Health. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ^ a b "2016-2018 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan: Take Care New York 2020" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
- ^ "New Yorkers are living longer, happier and healthier lives". New York Post. June 4, 2017. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
- ^ "NYC-Queens Community District 14--Far Rockaway, Breezy Point & Broad Channel PUMA, NY". Census Reporter. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Find Your Precinct and Sector - NYPD". www.nyc.gov. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "Rockaway – DNAinfo.com Crime and Safety Report". www.dnainfo.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ "100th Precinct CompStat Report" (PDF). www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ "101st Precinct CompStat Report" (PDF). www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ "FDNY Firehouse Listing – Location of Firehouses and companies". NYC Open Data; Socrata. New York City Fire Department. September 10, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ "Engine Company 329". FDNYtrucks.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Engine Company 268/Ladder Company 137". FDNYtrucks.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Engine Company 266". FDNYtrucks.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Engine Company 265/Ladder Company 121". FDNYtrucks.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Engine Company 264/Engine Company 328/Ladder Company 134". FDNYtrucks.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ Finkel, Beth (February 27, 2014). "Guide To Queens Hospitals". Queens Tribune. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "The Rockaways, New York City-Queens, New York Zip Code Boundary Map (NY)". United States Zip Code Boundary Map (USA). Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Location Details: Arverne". USPS.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Location Details: Far Rockaway". USPS.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Location Details: Rockaway". USPS.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Location Details: Rockaway Beach". USPS.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ a b "Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Maps for Jamaica Bay Unit - Gateway National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society (1922). Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society to the Legislature of the State of New York. pp. 30–31. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^ New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (1910). Annual Report of the New-York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^ "History of City–Owned Beaches". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
- ^ Kilgannon, Corey (July 21, 2006). "To the Battlements, and Take Sunscreen: The Joys of Fort Tilden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Breezy Point Archived September 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Brooklyn Bird Club, Accessed November 24, 2008.
- ^ "Chill out this summer ... on an urban beach", The Vancouver Sun, June 2, 2007. "Rockaway Beach is the largest urban beach in the States."
- ^ "Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Day, Sherri (July 9, 2000). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: ARVERNE; Wildlife Refuge Becomes a Battleground for Humans". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Vernam Barbadoes Peninsula Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Beach Channel Park Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Tribute Park Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Rockaway Community Park Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Bayswater Park Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Bay Side of Rockaway Getting 'Fair' Share of Leftover Sandy Cash, City Says". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. "Bayswater Point State Park - Getting There". Nysparks.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ "Rockaway/Broad Channel – QN 14" (PDF). Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ^ "Church Of God Christian Academy". Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "Branch Detailed Info: Arverne". Queens Public Library. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Branch Detailed Info: Far Rockaway". Queens Public Library. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ Rose, Naeisha (November 20, 2018). "Ground broken on $33.6 million Far Rockaway Library construction site". QNS.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Branch Detailed Info: Peninsula". Queens Public Library. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Branch Detailed Info: Seaside". Queens Public Library. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
- ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ IND Rockaway Branch/Jamaica Bay Crossing Archived August 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 14, 2006.
- ^ a b "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ^ Rock Rock Rockaway Food Stands Archived November 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. October 18, 2012.
- ^ "Seastreak Ferry New Jersey, New York and New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard". Seastreakusa.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ^ "Rockaway Ferry Floats On Through May, But Trip Will Cost Nearly Double - Rockaway Beach - DNAinfo.com New York". Dnainfo.com. January 20, 2014. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ^ "Commuters Bemoan Closing of Rockaway Ferry - NY1". www.ny1.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ "NYC launches ferry service with Queens, East River routes". NY Daily News. Associated Press. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ^ Levine, Alexandra S.; Wolfe, Jonathan (May 1, 2017). "New York Today: Our City's New Ferry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ^ "Jill Eisenstadt revisits Rockaway Beach, 30 years later". Newsday. May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Italie, Hillel (June 5, 2017). "Homecoming: Jill Eisenstadt ends long hiatus as novelist". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. "A Radio Days House Survives the Hurricane" Archived August 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, November 26, 2012. Accessed August 22, 2017. "That house, said Lee Quinby, a co-owner, played the role of the family home in the Woody Allen movie Radio Days, a 1987 tribute to the glory days of radio and the delights of familial bickering, as well as a love song to the Rockaways of around the early 1940s."
- ^ "Amazon.com: Lily's Crossing". Archived from the original on July 22, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
- ^ "Chains Around the Grass Archived August 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Publishers Weekly. Accessed August 22, 2017. "Based on novelist Ragen's own experiences growing up in an ethnically mixed low-income housing project in the Rockaways, this novel opens a window into the bittersweet world of the Markowitz family as they struggle to make ends meet in 1950s New York City."
- ^ "KRYSSA SCHEMMERLING/OUR HAWAII" Archived August 20, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, New York Foundation for the Arts. Accessed August 22, 2017. "A group of locals overcome myriad obstacles to surf amid the urban decay of Rockaway Beach, Queens."
- ^ "From 'Forest Hills: Birthplace of Punk' to 'Rock Rock Rockaway Beach'" Archived August 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Queens Museum. Accessed August 22, 2017. "'Rockaway Beach', written by Dee Dee Ramone and released on the Ramones’ 1977 album Rocket to Russia, has become the anthem of the largest urban beach in the United States, treasured by surfers, day trippers, and residents alike."
- ^ "Surf, Surf, Surf Away at Rockaway Beach" Archived August 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation press release dated July 27, 2007. Accessed August 22, 2017. "The Ramones immortalized the beach’s allure in their 1977 hit 'Rockaway Beach' and since then, surfers have come from far and wide to catch Rockaway’s waves."
- ^ Warren, James. "Radio ad campaign to use Ramones hit 'Rockaway Beach' to lure visitors back to the shorefront devastated by Hurricane Sandy " Archived January 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, New York Daily News, June 3, 2013. Accessed August 22, 2017. "The Queens Economic Development Corporation is launching a radio ad campaign featuring the legendary punk rock band's hit "Rockaway Beach" to lure people back to a shorefront devastated by Hurricane Sandy."
- ^ "Island profiles: Governor Hugh L. Carey". August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Harry J. Donnelly, 68, Ex-Justice in New York", The New York Times, May 21, 1989. Accessed October 11, 2021. "Harry J. Donnelly a retired acting justice of the New York Supreme Court and a former New York City Highway Commissioner, died of cancer yesterday at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. He was 66 years old and lived in Breezy Point, Queens."
- ^ Fried, Joseph P. "Charles J. Hynes, Brooklyn D.A. in a Tumultuous Era, Dies at 83", The New York Times, January 30, 2019. Accessed October 11, 2021. "He lived in Brooklyn and Breezy Point in the Rockaways."
- ^ Kovaleski, Serge F. "A Baseball Lover, Key to Tarnishing a Yankee Era", The New York Times, December 15, 2007. Accessed February 19, 2008. "Mr. McNamee was raised in the Breezy Point section of Queens, on the westward end of the Rockaway Peninsula, an area with many police officers, like his father."
- ^ Jimmy Ring, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed October 11, 2021. "James Joseph Ring died of a heart attack at his summer home on Breezy Point, Queens, on July 6, 1965, at the age of 70."
- ^ Goldman, Ari A. "Man In The News; Acting Transit Chief; Donald Thomas Scannel", The New York Times, August 22, 1983. Accessed October 11, 2021. "The 70-year-old Mr. Scannell had just come back to his summer home in Breezy Point, Queens, after jogging to the beach, where he swam three- quarters of a mile."
- ^ Kaplan, Thomas. "Lawmaker Takes Office and Learns Some Rules", The New York Times, September 15, 2011. Accessed October 11, 2021. "'I felt a certain awe,' Mr. Turner, 70, a retired cable television executive who lives in Breezy Point, Queens, said in an interview."
- ^ "About Bob". Bob Turner for Congress. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
- ^ "Nisson Alpert, 58, a Scholar At Rabbi Elchanan Seminary", The New York Times, May 29, 1986. Accessed March 7, 2024. "Prof. Nisson Alpert, a noted rabbinical scholar at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University, died of cancer Monday at his daughter's home in Queens. He was 58 years old and lived in Far Rockaway, Queens."
- ^ Khaleel M. Anderson: Biography Archived October 4, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, New York State Assembly. Accessed January 7, 2024. "Assembly Member Anderson is the youngest Black Assembly Member in New York State history. Anderson lives in Far Rockaway, New York."
- ^ Morales, Tina (February 25, 1990). "SCHOOL OF THE WEEK/Far Rockaway High School". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ a b c "The Best Queens Celebrities 2002", Queens Tribune. Accessed November 25, 2015.
- ^ "New York +Boruch Dayan Emmes: Rav Avrohom Blumenkrantz Z”L+" Archived January 8, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, Vos Iz Neias?, February 23, 2007. Accessed January 7, 2024. "The revered Posik and tzaddik, Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz of Far Rockaway, NY, has passed away this afternoon from diabetic complications."
- ^ "Albert J. Brackley; Former Assemblyman Headed Far Rockaway Democratic Club" Archived January 8, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, December 15, 1937. Accessed January 7, 2024. "Former Assemblyman Albert J. Brackley, president of the Far Rockaway Regular Democratic Club, died on Monday night of a heart ailment in his home, 1293 Brunswick Avenue, Far Rockaway."
- ^ Steinbach, Alice. "Steven Brill plans to bring the O.J. Simpson trial to the small screen; Courting TV" Archived June 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, The Baltimore Sun, September 25, 1994. Accessed April 8, 2021. "So. How does a kid from the Far Rockaway section of Queens, N.Y., wind up running a mini-empire? In Steven Brill's case it was all because of a broken kneecap."
- ^ "Dr. Joyce Brothers: Television and Radio Writer, Producer, Host". The Paley Center For Media. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
The daughter of lawyers, Joyce Diane Bauer was born in Manhattan and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens.
- ^ "Joseph Cassidy Of Queens Dies; Stricken With Apoplexy at Club, Ex-Leader Expires on Reaching His Home. Twice Borough President One of the Last of the City's Old-Time Political 'Bosses'-Was Long Under Fire.", The New York Times, November 22, 1920. Accessed January 7, 2024. "Joseph Cassidy, former borough President of Queens, and for many years Democratic "boss" of that borough, died suddenly of apoplexy yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock at his home in Carlton Avenue, in the Hollywood Park district of Far Rockaway."
- ^ "The Break Presents: Chinx Drugz". Xxlmag.com. February 17, 2012. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ^ Golianopoulos, Thomas. "The Bridge Is Over; The Queensbridge Houses were once at the center of the rap universe. What happened to hip-hop's most storied housing project?" Archived June 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Complex (magazine), November 25, 2014. Accessed July 16, 2017. "Born Cory McKay in Brooklyn, Cormega moved at an early age from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Co-Op City in the Bronx where he lived on a 22nd floor apartment with a balcony. Life was good until his father discovered crack cocaine. Mega moved to Far Rockaway, Queens, and then he began dealing drugs in Brooklyn."
- ^ "Video // Mac DeMarco Announces New Mini LP + Tour Dates". Captured Tracks. April 22, 2015. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ^ Creekmur, Chuck. "Father MC Talks Launching Mary J. Blige & Jodeci, BET, His Career With Diddy & Andre Harrell" Archived February 12, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, AllHipHop, April 13, 2021. Accessed February 12, 2023. "One of those talents was Father MC, the Brooklyn-born, Far Rockaway-bred lyricist."
- ^ Costello, Brian. "Jets land Far Rockaway native in sixth round", New York Post, April 28, 2018. Accessed October 9, 2018. "Gang Green picked defensive lineman Folorunso “Foley” Fatukasi in the sixth round, the 180th-overall pick. Fatukasi grew up in Far Rockaway and played at Beach Channel High School."
- ^ "Scientist Solved Mysteries of the Sun and Magnetic Fields Joan Feynman, sister of a Nobel laureate, made her own mark in physics despite her mother’s doubts" Archived December 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2020. Accessed March 19, 2021. "Joan Feynman was born on March 30, 1927, and grew up in the Far Rockaway section of Queens."
- ^ "Richard Phillips Feynman Facts, information, pictures". Encyclopedia.com. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ Markus, Don. "Gaithers 29 spark FDU win" Archived November 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, December 22, 1983. Accessed November 19, 2020. "Marcus Gaither recently became Fairleigh Dickinson's all-time leading scorer, but the achievement was overshadowed by the confusion the 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard was going through.... A shift to point guard, because of an injury to teammate Freddie Collins, made things even more unsettling for the senior from Far Rockaway, N.Y."
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil. "Margo Guryan, Whose Album Drew Belated Acclaim, Dies at 84", The New York Times, November 24, 2021. Accessed March 7, 2024. "Margo Guryan was born on Sept. 20, 1937, in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island, and grew up in the Far Rockaway section of Queens."
- ^ Ginsburg, Elisabeth. "A Well-Traveled Ecologist", The New York Times, November 10, 2002. Accessed March 7, 2024. "As an urban ecologist, Steven N. Handel has traveled from a former landfill near Thoreau's Walden Pond to West Virginia strip mines, but he always returns to the Garden State.... Mr. Handel, who grew up in Far Rockaway, was a 'nature-loving kid,' he says."
- ^ Martin, Douglas. "Zander Hollander, Sports Trivia Shepherd, Dies at 91", The New York Times, April 14, 2014. Accessed March 7, 2024. "Alexander Hollander was born in Brooklyn on March 24, 1923, and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens."
- ^ Crowe, Portia (May 4, 2015). "Carl Icahn told a story about his dad that always makes him tear up". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ Gustines, George Gene. "At 99, Al Jaffee Says Goodbye to Mad Magazine As a send-off for the cartoonist, the satirical publication has prepared an all-Jaffee issue that includes his final Fold-In." Archived June 15, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, June 15, 2020. Accessed June 15, 2020. "In 1933, Mr. Jaffee’s father brought Al and two of his brothers back to America for good. The family lived in Far Rockaway, N.Y."
- ^ "Nancy Lieberman player profile". ODU Sports. Old Dominion University. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
On May 6, 2000, the Far Rockaway, NY native earned her degree from Old Dominion University in interdisciplinary studies.
- ^ "Lieberman, Nancy". Encyclopedia.com. May 6, 1996. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Moore, Deborah Dash. Deborah Lipstadt Archived September 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Jewish Women's Archive. Accessed February 13, 2019. "Deborah grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. Lipstadt traces her activism back to her parents and Rabbi Emanuel Rackman of the Shaarey Tefila Synagogue in New York."
- ^ Carney, John (December 22, 2008). "The Education of Bernie Madoff: The High School Years". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Dominguez, Robert (October 19, 2006). "BRINGING IT BACK HOME. Steve Madden's new ad campaign focuses on his fashion center - Queens". Daily News (New York). Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
But Madden was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, where his family is from, and his corporate headquarters are in a huge, Tudor-style building in Long Island City not far from the Queensboro Bridge.
- ^ Henderson, Diedtra (March 19, 1996). "Mass Appeal -- UW Meteorologist Cliff Mass Not Only Knows His Science; He's Also A Whiz At Getting It Across To The Public". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ McNamara, Pat (January 9, 2009). "We Love Our Nielsen". Patheos. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ Oral history interview with Barbara Novak,, Smithsonian Archives of American Art, October 8-17, 2013. Accessed May 26, 2022. "And then I found out that I could have lessons, art lessons, in one of the big old houses. I remember there was a big white house on [Beach] Ninth Street in Far Rockaway, where I was growing up."
- ^ Tomasson, Robert E. "Phil Ochs a Suicide at 35; Singer of Peace Movement" Archived February 7, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, April 10, 1976. Accessed March 19, 2021. "Mr. Ochs was born in El Paso. His father, a doctor, moved the family to upstate New York when Phil was a few years old. When he was a teen‐ager, the family moved to Far Rockaway."
- ^ Goff, Steven. "George Mason basketball: Ryan Pearson is scarred but not slowed by childhood accident", The Washington Post, February 4, 2011. Accessed February 12, 2023. "'It's a challenge for him every day,' George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga said. 'Whatever obstacles he has had to overcome, he has done it. He has found a way.' The obstacles formed in Far Rockaway, N.Y., a rough area of Queens pinched between John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean."
- ^ Musleah, Rahel. "Star in the Making Doesn't Live Like One" Archived October 31, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, September 12, 1999. Accessed March 19, 2021. "Born in Jamaica, Queens, and reared in the Edgemere Projects in Far Rockaway, Ms. Price grew up in a strict Pentecostal home."
- ^ Weiss, Jeff (July 1, 2010). "R.I.P. Rammellzee: The original abstract-rapping outlaw". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 2, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
- ^ Crease, Robert P.; and Mann, Charles C. "In Search Of The Z Particle" Archived March 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, October 26, 1986. Accessed March 19, 2021. "Burton Richter was born in Brooklyn 55 years ago, but grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens."
- ^ Gary Schwartz Archived June 19, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Dictionary of Art Historians. Accessed May 5, 2022.
- ^ Brenson, Michael. "An Idiosyncratic Expert Redraws Rembrandt" Archived May 5, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, February 28, 1987. Accessed May 5, 2022. "Gary Schwartz was born in Brooklyn in 1940. His mother was Hungarian; his father, who worked in and eventually took over his father's sweater factory, was of Polish origin. The family moved to Far Rockaway when he was 12."
- ^ Jackson, Brian Keith (October 24, 2007). "Ice, Ice Babies". NYMag.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
I grew up in Far Rockaway, and you'd always see shoes on the line.
- ^ "Smullyan biography". University of St Andrews School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
Raymond Smullyan, known as Ray, was brought up in Far Rockaway in New York City.
- ^ "Herbert Sturhahn". National Football Foundation. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
- ^ "Conrad Thibault Dies; An Ex-Radio Vocalist", The New York Times, August 4, 1987. Accessed March 7, 2024. "Conrad Thibault, a popular baritone from the heyday of radio, died Saturday at St. John's Hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens. He was 83 years old and lived in Far Rockaway."
- ^ "Walter 'Skip' Campbell, Broward mayor and former state senator, dies at 69". Tampa Bay Times. October 24, 2018. Archived from the original on January 5, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ "Today in Hip-Hop History: The Source Remembers Graf Legend Iz the Wiz on His Birthday - the Source". November 10, 2020.
- ^ "An Interview with Jonathan Monaghan". saic.edu. October 10, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ Green, Penelope. "Patti Smith, Survivor; In her new memoir, M Train, the punk elder makes peace with her ghosts and finds solace in a century-old bungalow in the Rockaways." Archived September 13, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, October 3, 2015. Accessed September 13, 2018. "Patti Smith, the musician and author, in the yard of her home in Rockaway Beach, Queens."
- ^ Rockaways Hipsterfication Report: MGMT Buys A House, Beer Garden Looms Archived February 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Gothamist. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Rearick, Kristie. "Kenny Vance and the Planotones keep fans happy with stop in Pitman" Archived July 14, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, South Jersey Times, May 17, 2013. Accessed September 13, 2018. "A resident of Rockaway Beach in Queens for 38 years, a visit from Hurricane Sandy last October completely destroyed his home."
Further reading
- "An Economic Snapshot of the Rockaways" (PDF). Office of the New York State Comptroller. March 2018.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- History of Rockaway from The Wave
- Downloadable copy of History of the Rockaways from the year 1685 to 1917 by Alfred H. Bellot
- US Geological Survey for Breezy Point
- The Rockaways by Henry Isham Hazelton (1924)
- Gateway National Recreation Area official website
- Housing Mania in The Rockaways by Angelo Guarino